Keir Starmer’s houdini act is over – next week’s bloodbath will make sure of that

Keir Starmer knows it, so does his top team – his time as Prime Minister is as good as over. But rather than showing some spine, some moral integrity, Sir Keir and his government have let the country down.

Those aren’t the sentiments of political opponents, but those of a Labour MP. In devastating fashion, Emma Lewell laid bare her thoughts – perhaps those of many fellow backbenchers – that the government’s handling of the Peter Mandelson saga “smacks, once again, of being out of touch and disconnected from the public mood”.

The MP for South Shields told the Commons that the “whole sorry saga” had left her, like the public, “let down, disappointed and angry”.

That same British public will vent their fury at the ballot box in just nine days time

They will almost certainly deliver a verdict so devastating that it will leave the Labour party no choice but to act.

It will be brutal, it will be messy, but make no mistake about it, this Houdini Prime Minister will struggle to escape from the grip of voter vengeance.

Labour MPs could have packed their leader off to a sleaze probe but they chose the soft option and stuck by their man instead.

What it does is prolong the pain.

The Mandelson scandal will rumble on for a long time yet.

Next week, Labour is facing an electoral bloodbath in the local, Welsh and Scottish elections.

After that, the plotting will begin in earnest. Sir Keir’s leadership rivals are circling.

Former deputy PM Angela Rayner is ready to pounce, even though she has a tax scandal hanging over her head.

While Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has fluttered more than just his prominent eyelashes at the thought of a tilt at the top job.

Health secretary Wes Streeting does too, but he’s on the right of a party that’s becoming more left-wing by the day.

This past fortnight of compelling but tedious Whitehall whodunnitry has set the scene.

Now it’s time for someone to go over the top.